Man gets life sentence for raping, impregnating 10-year-old

Suzie Schottelkotte @southpolkscene

Wednesday

Jan 11, 2017 at 8:52 PMJan 12, 2017 at 1:36 PM

A Polk County jury of four men and two women deliberated for about an hour Wednesday before finding Rony Otoniel Mendez of Lakeland guilty of repeatedly raping a 10-year-old girl, who became pregnant from one of the assaults.

BARTOW — A Polk County jury of four men and two women deliberated for about an hour Wednesday before finding Rony Otoniel Mendez of Lakeland guilty of repeatedly raping a 10-year-old girl, who became pregnant from one of the assaults.

Circuit Judge Jalal Harb then imposed a mandatory life sentence without parole for each of the three convictions of sexual battery on a child under 12, and a life sentence for one count of lewd and lascivious molestation on a child for fondling the girl’s breast through her clothes.

Mendez, who required an interpreter throughout the three-day trial, chose not to testify on his own behalf and declined any comment Wednesday before Harb imposed sentence. It was his 26th birthday.

In a written statement to authorities, the girl had said Mendez came into her mother’s bedroom in October 2013, locked the door and assaulted her. He told her not to tell anyone because they both would get into trouble, according to court records.

He would do it again two more times, she said.

In her closing argument Wednesday, Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Swenson reminded jurors that Mendez admitted to authorities that he’d had sex with the girl.

“The defendant acknowledged that he was responsible,” she said. “He acknowledged that he had sexual intercourse with her.”

Swenson said the girl bore a daughter in May 2015, when she was 11. During the trial, a crime analyst with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement testified that the baby’s DNA is consistent with Mendez's.

“The DNA proves it’s his daughter,” Swenson said.

Assistant Public Defender Marlisa DeMond, representing Mendez, pointed to inconsistencies in the girl’s statements to authorities and suggested they should create reasonable doubt.

She told jurors in her closing argument that the girl said the initial assault occurred on a day in late October after her mother had gone to work, but her mother testified she hadn’t started working until late November.

She said the girl never mentioned a blue bottle in her earlier statements, but as time went on, she said Mendez had a blue bottle containing liquid that “made it more slippery.”

“She began embellishing her story as she was getting positive feedback (from officials,)” DeMond said.

She also questioned the accuracy of the translation of Mendez’s statement from Spanish to English.

“It’s clear this is not a direct translation of what Mr. Mendez said,” she told jurors. “He said ‘I think this is what he meant. I think this is what he said.’”

The girl came forward with her allegations in November 2014, shortly after she learned she was pregnant.

Swenson told jurors that Mendez left his job for his native Guatemala shortly after that.

Last August, federal authorities traveled to Guatemala and extradited Mendez back to Florida to stand trial on the capital charges.

— Suzie Schottelkotte can be reached at suzie.schottelkotte@theledger.com or 863-533-9070. Follow her on Twitter @southpolkscene.

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